Prey
by Lilacsbloom
Summary: Every few years, came the lunar phase of the red moon. During this time, the saiyan race came together to breed. This is the way things had always been, and for Gine, this time was a curse, for she did not desire participating in such primitive acts of courtship. But perhaps, just maybe she had found another who thought differently like her. Maybe she wasn't so alone in this world.
1. Meeting

_A/N: This story came about for Bardine week. I was hoping to get much of it done before the time came around, but sadly I had such a short timeframe to get what I had down I soon realized that wasn't going to be possible. At most I believe I can get one more chapter out before Bardine week is up, but I will continue to name the chapters after the prompt titles for the sake of it._

 _This is an alternate universe story set on Planet Vegeta where the saiyans live in stone age[ish] times and things are slightly more grounded. The concept of Prey is inspired by Kerghan-MB's story Primal, whose works I recommend highly you read if you're a Goku/Chichi fan. I have to credit Kerghan a lot, as if he hadn't written Primal, told me about the Bardine week or even given me permission to use his idea, this story wouldn't be possible. Also extra credit to Tobi for being da beta, or I'd be screwed._

 _That said I am a big fan of Bardock and Gine, and am so excited to get the opportunity to write about them here, and hope you enjoy._

* * *

 _ **Prey**_

 _ **Chapter 1: Meeting**_

* * *

A fat fly got itself caught in the spider's web near to where Gine crouched within those tall ferns. The buzzing from the insect's wings sent vibrations through the silk they were stuck to, and almost instantly, the red eight-legged arthropod emerged from hiding. No time was wasted as the spider climbed with speedy limbs to the struggling fly, and sunk its fang into its plump body. The fly's fine hair-sized legs wriggled in vain, the venom fast acting and fatal as the fangs in its gut. It was not long til the spider spun its silk around the fly, wrapping it in a tightly woven cocoon by where it began to feast.

Paralyzed and trapped, forced to feel its very life essence drank out of its body as it slowly died—a cruel fate for even a fly. But the trick was to be smart enough never to get caught in the web in the first place; staying far from the spider's clutches, that was only the way to survive.

Her hands sunk into the dirt dampened by the previous night's rain, and began applying a fresh coat over her already smeared skin. From her face, neck, chest and stomach, to her arms and down to her legs and feet, the mud was pasted on in gracious amount; even her black unruly hair, and her long furry tail were smothered, along with the animal skins that made up her clothing. She was filthy, and the mud when dried was itchy on her skin, sticking in her hair in clumps, but all of it must be done to mask her scent.

There was smallest whisper of sound east of her in the forest that made the saiyan go still.

"….an't be…he pu…."

A voice—male.

"…re som..…edy…"

Hearing it again she grabbed her stone blade, sheathing it into the waistline of her clothing, before stringing the small bag around her midsection, to where it rested on the small of her back. Slowly perching herself up on her bruised knees, her head raised high, Gine sniffed at the humid air.

The scent of other saiyans was carried on by that breeze weaving its ways through the trees. She was downwind of them, but their scent was stronger than before. They had gained ground on her.

Gine crawled cautiously to the edge of the small cluster of ferns to have been her temporal den for rest. Her dark sharpened eyes peered through the large feathered leaves, as her super acute hearing picked up every bit of activity in that forest; the birds whistling and flapping their wings in the high trees; the scamper and digging of small critters moving in the underbrush, to the buzzing and scurry of insects.

In that heightened state of awareness, she picked up the distant crunch of leaves, branches being rustled as they were moved aside or snapped clean off. Another few quick sniffs at the air, indicated little for the direction of the wind had changed direction against her favor, but Gine's ears did not deceive her; they were much closer than anticipated.

Panic prickled inside her chest, as cautiously the petite saiyan crept out. With no one other saiyan yet visible in her vicinity, she was on her feet, remaining low and moving quickly with little sound as possible through the large bowing trees of twisted branches. She made her escape down into a gully, lowering her body quietly down the rocky terrain instead of leaping down. Stealth needed to be her ally after all.

The two suns burned like hot raging fires sweeping across the peachy colored sky, their heat bearing down on her back and neck during her descent. Yet, the spheres were pebbles in comparison to the crescent red moon in the north.

" _The full moon comes around every second spring. When the lunar phase begins, you must be ready..."_

" _For what, Mommy?"_

A foothold gave way when Gine applied her weight on it, and gravity took hold. Her body scrapped against the jagged slab of rock as her hands snapped up and feet dug in, scrabbling to retain her footing. Stones fell, noisily ricocheting down into the gully below as she leaned frozen on a narrow ledge, holding her breathe.

With the sting on areas of her skin, the powerful smell of blood hit her nostrils. A look down upon herself revealed several cuts, the reddened lines far more visible from the smudges of mud rubbed off from the fall, sticking tiny graveled stones to her flesh. Gine's mind screamed, for it was too late to do anything about it. Activity stirred in the forest as the saiyans closed in, drawn by her scent.

She hopped the remainder of the way down the gully, and broke into a run.

From above they shot out from the tree-line, large darkened blurs darting back and forth across the rocky edges of the gully, gaining ground faster than she could carry herself on her own two feet. A titan of a male landed directly in front of her path, shaking the earth as his feet made impact with the ground. She saw a body of pure muscle, the saiyan completely bald, wearing nothing but a loincloth. The smell he brought from himself was foul with sweat and grime, creating a greater barrier of which Gine skidded to a stop in order not to collide into.

A sneered twisted on his lips as the saiyan bared his teeth.

"Well, well, lookie here. Finally found you!"

Gine leapt backwards, turning on her heels to bolt in the direction from whence she came, only for another saiyan to jump down and cut her off. He was just as big and appeared equally as strong, bearing scars on his forehead, with the teeth of every kind of creature worn like trophies around his neck and clothing. His beady eyes held as much amused as the other saiyan.

It was her first time meeting her pursuers up close, and she sensed only the worst of intentions from them.

With a deep huff of amusement, the burly scarred saiyan made a grab for her. Instinctively Gine pulled out her stone blade, taking a swipe at him, but the male easily evaded it by swaying to the side, and slapped the weapon out of her hand. She panicked as the knife went flying, hearing it land behind some half fallen tree wedged in the gully. Her instinctive reaction was to rush over and retrieve it, but before she could do such a thing, the scarred saiyan shoved her into the chest of his fellow ally. Gine shouted as her arms were locked at her sides in a bear hug from behind, the sheer strength of her captor lifting her very feet off the ground.

"Oh no you don't woman; can't have you running off on us again!" spoke the saiyan in the loincloth, keeping her restrained. Gine let out another scream, her mind on overdrive from the adrenaline in her veins. She struggled with all her might, her fingernails digging into the flesh of her assailant and her tail wrapping around one of his chunky arms tightly in a bid to loosen his hold upon her. It did nothing but cause laugher to bellow out from the saiyan.

"Haha! Real feisty for a pure one aren't you?" He said, reveling in the moment. With his grip not letting up, she cringed as the male pressed her closer to his naked chest, and leaned his head inwards towards her neck. Her shoulders tensed up, feeling disgusted to her core when he inhaled the smell of her deeply, the bristles from his rough, thin mustache scratching at her skin. "What a waste. I'd fuck you in an instant with or without the full lunar-"

" _ **NO!**_ Let go! Let go of me!" Gine yelled, and kicked the back of her heels at her captor, every blow striking harder than the last.

He barely flinched, laughing even harder.

"You hear that, Toteppo? The woman wants us to let her go free after all the trouble we went to in tracking her down! Talk about ungrateful!"

The other saiyan, _Toteppo_ as he was named, gave a toothy grin. There was amusement on his plump features while he stood idle by watching. Her heightened sensed detected another saiyan coming closer to join them in the gully. She would be more outnumbered, overpowered and the thought made Gine's body began to tremble.

" _Saiyans from all around will come to claim you, and only the strongest shall do so, and you will bear them their offspring." Her mother's hand rubbed over her belly tenderly, swollen from the life growing inside of her. "You will raise them, like I have you— and very soon your sibling. And the cycle repeats itself."_

Not like this. This was not how things were meant to be.

"Please…!"

Her eyes swam with tears crying out of in frustration, while her captor's tail wrapped around Gine's legs like a snake, chortling. "Beg all you want. It'll get you nowhere. If anything you owe us a reward for making us come out all this way for your muddy ass."

A wheezy cry escaped Gine as the chunky arms wrapped around her body tightened tenfold, suddenly making it near impossible to breathe. As the air was forced out from her lungs, to her horror she felt the half-naked saiyan's tail slowly slithering up her thigh. She wrestled in his hold, kicking her legs at the appendage, doing everything to keep him away.

"Enough, Nappa! Remember our agreement!"

It was the voice of authority that stopped her assailant's actions.

Blinking away tears to clear her bleary vision, she sighted the silent Toteppo taking notice of another behind him as he moved aside, allowing the third saiyan to walk by and enter the fray. He was a male of smaller build in comparison to the other two, wearing a fur cloak with his left eye sealed shut from a scar. Gine's eyes widen in disbelief at the visible wrinkles on his features, and the color of his hair which was not black, but entirely gray.

An elder…it seemed like forever since she had last met one.

Gine's lungs were on fire. Her head was getting heavier by the second, with her body losing more and more of the energy within it keep fighting. She was already long past her limit.

"Release her. We need her left untouched, _and alive_ ," She distantly picked up the elder warning the fellow saiyan.

Hearing a groan behind her, Nappa's arms loosened around her, and Gine felt herself being thrown on the ground. She gasped for air immediately, snapping back from the brink of losing consciousness. Erupting in coughing fits, she held her sides that was certain would certainly bruise. Her forehead pressed into the dirt, she focused only on getting air back into her body.

Escape would be her next move.

"Argh, why you gotta spoil all the fun?" The saiyan Nappa complained like a child. "Like you're really gonna stick to your word!".

"And when have I ever given you reason to doubt me?" The elder asked, his voice drawing nearer while he did so.

A pair of blackened feet came to stop near Gine's head, and she yelped when she was grabbed none too lightly by the arm and yanked up onto her legs. And there she came face to face with the elder. He was a saiyan whose unscarred eye held great wisdom within…but in seconds, she saw corruption rooted at his core. It brought forth a fresh burst of energy, which ignited in Gine when the elder attempted restraining her with a rope clutched in his hand. Before he could wrap the thing around and bind her wrists, she head-butted his face with her forehead, promptly delivering a knee to the saiyan's groin thereafter.

"Ah! Wr-Wretched woman!" Cursing, the elder released her instantly, and Gine ducked under the saiyan's snatching grasp. Picking up speed, she skid her body under the gap of the fallen tree, dead set on recovering her dropped stone knife.

On her knees, she clawed around in the dust, scooping the blade up the moment her fingers closed around the hilt. With both hands Gine held out the knife out in front of her, ready to defend herself and plot her escape...yet neither of the saiyans Nappa or Toteppo hadn't so much as moved from where they were, making no advancement to disarm and capture her again. Instead the two saiyans' attention was on that of the elder nursing his wound—the pair humored by the whole event.

"Looks like you're getting soft in your old age." Nappa teased, causing Toteppo to let off a chuckle.

The elder gritted his yellowed teeth, removing the hand from his cheek reddened and sore. "Do not mock me!" He warned. "Otherwise claiming a female to satisfy your urges with will be the least of your concerns."

Strenuously recomposing himself, the elder turned towards Gine again. The moment he began his approach she raised her knife higher at him, "Back off!" She yelled, yet her efforts to intimidate were cast away in that breeze coursing through the gully. Forehead throbbing from the headbutt, her hands were shaking against her will when the old saiyan climbed over the tree trunk, getting closer. Her voice cracked, waving the knife at him. "Stay away from me!"

The elder came to a stop and stayed standing where he was. And all he did was smile to her, as false as the vows to be spoken on his lying tongue. "Please, there is no need for this. Surrender and we can end this peacefully."

Gine's attention snapped quickly to each of the saiyan men, fearful in taking her sight off any of them for longer than a few seconds. Maleficious intend was in all of them, visible in the slyest of actions; a smile in the eyes, a lick of the lips. They were stagnant in place, undeterred without worry, for her threats were simply brushed off to them as child's play.

To them she was weak, helpless, and _**theirs**_ to take…

Gine's back now against the rocky wall of the gully, her legs became stuck solid in place from terror. The rock-face here too steep to climb, and too high to leap up to the top of. She was backed into a corner.

"You can run no farther, woman. You cannot escape from your own destiny, so accept it. I promise, you will be well looked after until the lunar phase passes."

By the elder's words, Nappa smirked, sparing a glance at Toteppo; both saiyans were on the edge of hysterics, and neither bothered to hide it. They didn't care _—_ no saiyan ever did.

" _You are weak Gine—weak of body and of will!" The voice of a high ranking female in the hierarchy screams in her memory of the past, along with the pain of her beatings. "These ideals of yours are nothing but delusions of a broken-minded saiyan! They will lead you nowhere in this life!"_

She was born into a world she did not belong, and the trick was not to get caught, even if that meant…

A wave of calm suddenly washed over Gine in that moment, her short wild hair fluttering by the contours of her face as she took in a deep breath of that breeze. Eye contact unbroken, she watched as that so sure expression on the elder changed to that of surprise, when Gine slowly turned the knife away from him…and pressed the stone blade to the side of her own throat.

It earned her a few more laughs from the other brutes, muttering insults under their breaths to each other, finding it all hilarious.

"Come now, do not do something wasteful as throwing your life away. There is still much use for you." Slowly the elder raised his arm up, extending his hand out to her, beckoning Gine forward. "Come…"

They had tracked her for so long, nothing could be said to get rid of them now. As far as they were concerned the hunt was over and she was the prize...but Gine wouldn't give them the satisfaction of that. It had to be done. One quick slice across, just like with the animals she caught for food. She could do it.

The old saiyan edged closer, almost within arm's length of her. Steadying her hands gripping the blade, she pressed it farther towards her neck, and began to feel the sting of her own skin breaking.

The wind shifted direction in that gully, and in that very instance before Gine could pull the knife back, she and the others picked up the strong scent of another saiyan in their presence.

Stones and dirt sprinkled down on her from above, and Gine looked up, catching the blur of a shadow sliding down the gully towards her. Their feet didn't even touch the ground when they pushed themselves off the steep slope in mid-fall, the elder having no time to react along with the others before he was kneed in the face.

The old saiyan was send flying over the tree trunk, his body colliding into that of Nappa, almost making the brute of a male topple over from the force of impact, and all by the mere act of catching him.

Gine retreated further up against the gully wall, her knees going weak and the knife dropping in sheer shock. Landing in the elder's place, now stood another saiyan, their back entirely towards her, and sights set firmly on the others.

It was a male. He was not beefy or tall as the saiyans Nappa or Toteppo, but brawny he definitely was. The exposed arms revealed strongly built muscles, along of those in the shoulders, back and legs noticeable under the donned pieces of leather armor worn over his form fitting clothing. Gine could not see his face, just the untamed mass of black hair to spike out in all directions, with the visible knotted ends of a bandana tied around his head to be stained a reddish brown. It fluttered in the wind along with his hair, while the rest of him was like stone.

The elder cradled a bloody mouth, shoving himself away from Nappa, his rage turning from disbelief, to terror as color left the old saiyan's face.

Through broken teeth, a name was blurted out.

"B…Bardock!?"

With a titter of a short-suppressed laugh, the rogue bandana-wearing male rolled his hands into fists, his feet spreading out on and knees bending as his body hunched.

"You miss me?" Was all the saiyan by the name of Bardock said, before he launched himself forward.

His arms hooked under the old tree trunk, and with a ferocious battle cry he lifted it up and hurled it at the elder and Nappa. The weight and force of it knocked down them in an instance.

Rolling his shoulders, Toteppo lunged at Bardock without a second's thought, an arm pulled back ready to throw a punch. His fist only made contact with air, as did every throw after, as the rogue saiyan evaded each punch as easily as breathing.

Losing his patience, Toteppo growled and moved in closer for a gut punch, only for Bardock to trap his arm around the larger saiyan's extended wrist, and rammed his elbow into Toteppo's throat with the other.

The mute saiyan gagged, clutching his neck with budging eyes as he stumbled back. But Bardock followed him, bringing his foot down with a stomp to Toteppo's kneecap. The leg bent inwards, forcing the saiyan down on the ground in howling pain, and before Toteppo knew what was happening, he was pulled into a chokehold, and his head was twisted with a loud crack.

Gine looked on mortified as Toteppo's body collapsed face down in the dirt, his head lying at a crooked angle like his leg—dead. Her breath hitched in her throat as the one to have killed the saiyan turned around, and she finally got a good look at this _Bardock._

It was the face of a warrior, a saiyan who had been toughened up by the world he was raised in—enough that it seemed not even death by his own hands fazed him. Many scars were scattered on his skin, the most prominent being the one on his left cheek to appear less faded from age than the others. Glowering with dark piercing eyes, those brows creased together as his nose flared and his jaw tightened along with his fists to be slowly raised up to chest level. His body slid back into his previous readied stance, knees bent and feet spread apart, while keeping his tail wrapped around his waist like a belt, instead of letting it hang freely as it was common for a saiyan to do.

Gine slid along the side of the gully wall, her hands gripping the rocks as her body trembled, stricken by fear by this new threat. _**'I need to get far away from here, now!'**_ the thought was there, but she couldn't act upon it. Her legs, she couldn't get them to move properly!

Bardock held his head forward in a steady gaze to the saiyan Nappa he was sizing up to. The brute had recovered, leaving the elder on the ground to be grabbing at his chest, coughing up blood. The old saiyan had taken the full brunt of the impact with the tree and was rendered capacitated. Gine wasn't even sure if the elder could stand, and part of her didn't even care.

"Bastard! I'll teach you to show your face again!" Nappa growled slightly winded, gnashing his teeth. A vein throbbing on his forehead and face flaring red with rage, the large beast of a saiyan ran at Bardock full pelt, arms out to tackle him down.

To Gine's amazement, Bardock didn't evade him; he ran right at the saiyan instead! For a second it seemed as if the two saiyans would crash into one another, but at the last possible moment, Bardock dropped down, skidding past Nappa's legs and out of the male's reach.

Getting behind him, he pushed up, kicking the back of Nappa's knee before the saiyan even had a chance to slow down. He immediately went down like a rock, the earth shaking under Gine's feet.

The rogue male scoffed.

"You're going to have to try harder than that."

"Why you—" Nappa growled and went at him again. He tried to attack the male with a barrage of punches and kicks, but each one miss or was blocked and countered without a sweat being broken by Bardock, all the while wearing his opponent down. Bardock moved like water, pivoting on his feet as he quickly got behind the larger saiyan and grabbed his arm as he went, forcing it behind Nappa's back. The saiyan howled out in pain, being brought to his knees the further his arm was pulled back; Gine thought it would be ripped off by the sheer power behind it.

"You've gotten slow," Bardock remarked with a sneer, using both his strength and twist of that arm for leverage to push the brute even farther down, slamming his head into the rocks. "What's the matter Nappa? Fattened up too much on dino meat?"

"Sh-Shut up!" Nappa said, snarling with half of his reddened face pressed to the ground, with the humiliation being inflicted upon him taking its toll on the saiyan. He bared his teeth, winding his tail around the male's wrist as his body strained, attempting to lift himself up. "I'll make… I'll make you pay FOR WHAT YOU DONE!"

A power struggle caused the tides of dominance to shift. Bardock grunted, the muscles straining in his arms and back to keep the large saiyan down, his feet slightly dragging along rock and soil in the battle to remain rooted where they were.

Through clenched teeth, there came a throaty laugh.

"Likewise," was all Bardock responded with, before unexpectedly, he lifted his arms up and violently yanked them back. Gine flinched upon hearing that bloodcurdling scream, almost shaken to the core when her mind finally processed what it was she was seeing.

An arm swung forward limp, broken with the bone protruding through sweat-ridden skin as Nappa lumbered forward with a dripping trail of red following him like a shadow.

The severed saiyan tail wriggled and coiled snake-like in Bardock's grasp, before he casually tossed the furry appendage away. A vicious grin was set upon his features, as he baited the male with those antagonizing words of his.

"Truth is, you're not leaving here alive."

Gine saw the flame of anger ignite, riling Nappa enough to lose control completely. Injured or not, that broken arm and bleeding stump of his tail were burned and forgotten in the inferno of his anger as he charged at Bardock once more, letting out an animalistic cry.

"You cocky bastard! DIE!"

No fear, Bardock stood his ground at the approaching beast of a male. His feet dug into the dirt as he full out stopped Nappa by slamming his forearms into his massive shoulders, then bent down, quickly wrapping his arms around the brute's neck, where he dropped to the ground. They both went down, and as they did she watched that rogue saiyan bring his knee up into Nappa's stomach, and Bardock flipped him over his head, not letting go.

There was audible crack as Nappa crashed onto the dirt on his back, and laid motionless.

Gine covered her mouth unable to utter a sound as Bardock was the only to rise. Jumping to his feet, he stood over the body of Nappa, his mouth soon closing in a small narrowed scowl upon realizing the saiyan was still alive. Nappa's neck had been broken in the tumble, rendering him immobile and unable to move.

There was fear on that male's face, the sort Gine never imagined seeing on one so cruel as him, and Bardock reveled in it.

"Maybe I am, but I have every right to be against a weakling like you," he spoke, and without another word, pressed his foot down upon the large saiyan's neck and applied the pressure. Nappa's eyes stared wide in terror with a gurgle, struggling for air, but his limbs were unresponsive; save for the tiny twitches from his fingers, there was nothing he could do to stop it.

It didn't take long for asphyxiation to do its part and to leave yet another saiyan dead in that gully.

A wheezy gasp came from the last survivor of the trio: the elder which Bardock soon turned to and began his walk towards. He immediately scoffed when he saw the old male attempting to drag his body away and making little effort.

"And where do you think you're crawling off to, Paragus?"

The elder, _Paragus_ , kept a hand to his chest, coughing up blood to dripple down his chin as he became more short of breath. The damage was internal, his aged body unable to rebound from what had been done to him. To any in their world, such things were a death sentence, and to Gine, he had earned it.

Paragus's words are wheezy and quiet, taking him great effort to breathe let alone speak.

"You…fool…you've doomed us, us all."

With all his strength he stood shakily, in a desperate attempt to escape the approaching saiyan on foot, but he was grabbed by the back of his cloak and yanked back by the neck, sending him falling down on his front.

"Don't feed me that bull!" Bardock retorted, throwing the cloak aside as he paced around Paragus impatiently. "You were only ever looking out for yourself and that screwed up crotch spawn of yours!" He groaned angrily, taking his hate out on the elder with a swift kick to the side. "Damn everyone else as long as things worked out for you, am I right!?"

The elder writhed in pain as he slid himself up onto his knees winded, clutching his chest tightly as he spluttered up more blood from his lungs.

"I did…what was nec—necessary to ma-maintain…or-order. I did, nothing—"

Paragus was struck down with a kick to the face, throwing him over onto his back. The elder let out a muffled cry, grabbing his crooked broken jaw.

"Lying bastard! All lies!" Bardock shouted, holstering the injured saiyan up by the throat and slamming him up against the rock face of the gully. "You keep on believing what you want, but I'm going to give you what you DESERVE!"

A knee was driven up into the Paragus's stomach, winding him before Bardock unleashed his wrath on the male, striking him with a fist to the face. Maliciously, he pummeled him with beating after beating, unrestrained and without mercy, and when the old saiyan could stand no longer, Bardock shoved Paragus down to the ground, pinning him down with one knee while he kept the punches rolling.

He didn't let up once, his demeanor changing on losing all sense of control. Only when the elder's face was an unrecognizable bloody pulp, did the slightly winded Bardock finally pick himself up from him, leaving Paragus a sobbing pitiful mess on the ground.

"Nuw…yuw wure…makun ah huwu mastak!" The elder agonizingly moaned out through bloody gums of broken teeth, his nose near but all caved in with much of his face, with his eye poking out from its damaged socket. The sight was enough to make Gine recoil in disgust, for she had never seen any saiyan beaten so badly and still be breathing. She thought she was going to be sick.

Her gaze flicked to Bardock, her jaw dropping upon seeing him in the midst of heaving up a boulder that was twice his size, carrying it over his head as if it weighed little much of anything.

She felt herself go cold, realizing what he was about to do.

"The only mistake is the one you made when you crossed us and took what was mine, and now you'll pay the price." Bardock came to stand over the barely conscious Paragus, the elder clawing helplessly at the fellow saiyan's ankle to no avail. Bardock only smirked and knocked the saiyan's hand back with his foot. "Don't worry. That savage bastard you call a son will be joining you in other world very soon."

And he brought the boulder down.

Gine turned away as she heard that sickening wet crunch, releasing a putrid smell into the surrounding odor of bloodshed spilled in that gully. Her stomach churned, threatening to bring up its contents as she covered her mouth, crumbling to her knees with her heart pounding in her ears, wanting nothing else but to escape and forget.

Within the span of a few minutes, the pursuers who had hounded her were dead, though that knowledge did little to stem her nerves. In spite how much it was supposed to be in a saiyan's blood, Gine was not one for violence. To kill another of her kind, however cruel they may be was not in her…and yet, and yet there would be no sorrow for the ones to have fallen here. Their deaths were a blessing.

When she was brave enough to look back, she noticed that saiyan Bardock slowly stepping back from the elder he had called Paragus, or what was left of him. The boulder had completely crushed his upper half, a pool of red steadily spreading out against the splatters of blood already in the dirt caused by the beatings.

It took everything in Gine not to vomit.

The rogue male's shoulders rose and fell with his chest, still catching his breath from the onslaught. He collapsed down on his backside in that moment, rubbing his face free of the specks of blood upon his face, the knuckles of one hand visibly red after how much he put into beating in that elder's skull.

He seemed calmer now, his body lax and the fire gone from his eyes, yet his gaze was far off.

If there was any time to go, it was now.

Her arms clinging close to her waist, Gine made the motion to move…and didn't get far. The slight scrapping of the stones at her feet was enough to alert the saiyan male and break him out from thought. Those black eyes were set on her own in an instance, boring into her very soul with scrutiny, freezing every bone still in her body.

" _Males and females of our species do not interact with one another my youngling, not after they've come of age. It is only during the lunar phase leading up to the red moon that we come together for a brief time to mate. After the moon is cast in shadow, we go our separate ways once again._

 _The orange glow from the small crackling fire where meat cooked flickered on the cavern walls marked with cave paintings. The image of the moon looming over dark figures with red eyes held her young mind's attention above all else, stirring images of animals with shiny eyes glowing in the darkness._

 _To the small child she was, not a word of it made any sense._

" _But why…?"_

 _The arms of her mother enveloped her in a warm embrace, as she nestled her cheek against Gine's forehead. "Because that is the way things must be…you will see."_

He was getting up.

The fretting Gine immediately recovered her knife, pointing it forward. With the bodies of those saiyan males lying around them, she was frightened the same would be done to her, or worse that she would be claimed. If tradition meant anything, then he'd earned that right to courtship, whether it be the challenge to a fight, or straight out forcing her down and taking her there and then. The very thought of either one made her skin crawl.

After what she'd witnessed, Gine stood no chance against someone like him, not even if she tried.

Bardock made no immediate advances toward her, none whatsoever. He simply stood there observing her, those eyes scanning up and down her body attentively, and giving the air a few good sniffs. After a long overbearing silence of him, he exhaled sharply out through his nostrils as if in distain…then turned away from her, and began to leave.

Gine could only blink utterly dumbfounded as she watched him walk away, unsure if she was really seeing what she was, and struggled to find her voice.

"You…You're leaving?"

The saiyan halted in his tracks up the rocky terrain, not bothering to look back.

"Smart guess; you figure that out on your own?"

The sarcasm in his voice threw her through a bigger loop, and her grip loosened on the knife.

"I…" Gine was speechless, and could only say what came to mind. "Why?"

Bardock looked over his shoulder at her, looking and both sounding irritated.

"'Why', what!?"

Stifled, Gine hesitated. "Why, why did you help me?"

His eye twitched slightly, glaring at her like a pesky insect that needed squashing. He just shook his head and turned away again.

"I don't care what happens to a cowardly female like you," Bardock said ill of her, and carried on walking without looking back. "I did what I came here to do, end of."

The stone knife nearly dropped from Gine's hands, her knees hitting to the dirt as relief cascaded through her. Tears welled in her eyes, stinging profusely, watching that saiyan leave.

He let her go.

He was really letting her go free!?

Letting out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, Gine called out to him.

"Th…Thank you!" she said, tears beginning to stream down her face. She wiped them away, and leapt up, yelling those words louder. "Thank you!"

The saiyan by the name of Bardock acknowledged nothing, soon hopping up the embankment and disappearing into the forest. Gine didn't stick around, quickly taking off running in the opposite direction down the gully, glad to get clear of those dead males,.

She sprinted off into the depths of the forest with legs still shaky, and her heart pounding abnormally fast in her chest, all warning herself to be vigilant. The scent of various creatures and plant life filled the air, and with the distant sounds of running water bracing the edge of her range of hearing, she steered towards it.

Despite looking back again and again to confirm what her heightened senses revealed, she wasn't followed.

" _No."_

" _No?"_

 _She shook her head from where she sat on her mother's lap. "I don't want to do it that way. I won't, Mommy."_

 _Her mother only looked at her as if she were an odd thing for saying such, and shook her head. "You may think that way now, but your mind will change. None of us can resist the call," She stroked the top of Gine's hair with a touch that was as soothing as her voice. "You will be a wonderful mother, Gine, and your children will be strong."_

Panting heavily, her bare feet splashed into the cold water of the shallow stream and steered to a halt. Gine choked on a sob, revolving round, frantically surveying the jungle and the dense underbrush where anything could be hiding. Everything was closing in, making it harder to breath no matter how much air she forced inside her burning lungs.

Gine let out a whimper, biting on her lip and grabbing fistfuls of her own hair.

" _Broken filth! What is wrong with you!?" The words were spat at her like venom from her fellow_ _female. A pair of hands were locked bone crushingly tight around her shoulders, shaking her body violently. "Answer me!? Sala and the other women told me what they saw. You were masking your scent again instead of seeking a mate! Why do you do this to yourself, Gine!? Do you not want to be a mother!?"_

" _Someday…yes I—"_

" _Then why do you cower away!?"_

The reality of everything to transpire finally caught up. Hyperventilating and blinded by tears, she dropped down in the water and broke apart, wailing like an infant into the palms of her mud stained hands to muffle the sounds of her pain so none would be drawn to it.

 _Dragged out by her legs through the small village, she was spat on, kicked and even had stones thrown at her from the women and children to shout and chant abuse in the gathered crowd._

" _You're not one of us!"_

 _"You broken filth!"_

" _Freak! Freak! Freak!"_

They almost got her. After everything she'd done to protect herself, those saiyan men came so close to getting her hands on her. She just wanted to be left alone, was that too much to ask? Why couldn't they leave her be!? This didn't have to happen. She didn't asked to be born female.

"Focus…focus, come on…" Gine told herself, rocking back and forth from where she sat in the stream. "It's over...it's okay...it's over..."

She inhaled deeply through her nose, and breathed out just as deeply through her mouth. Over and over she continued to do this, until the episode passed and she was in control once more.

Wiping the tears and snot from her face, she got up, wading across to the other side of the stream and inspected herself. She did what needed to done, washing the dried blood from her scratches and the small cut on her neck...along with the smell from those saiyan males on her skin. When she was done, Gine stepped out onto the water's edge and bent down, where she began that familiar ritual of donning herself in a fresh coat of mud on her body, all over again…

* * *

 _Reviews appreciated! :)_


	2. Weak

_A/N: Here's chapter 2 for you all. Enjoy! :D_

* * *

 ** _Prey_**

 ** _Chapter 2: Weak_**

* * *

Gine was different. She had always known this from when she was small. Her mother had been like her, capable of showing the level of affection most saiyans barely scratched the surface of. She was the only one who cared for Gine, her only real companion in this life, until the _beast_ took her away, and when she only just learned the basis of fending for herself.

For that time in her early youth she was alone, scared of predators and the darkness of night. She'd slept in the hollow of a tree to keep her safe, and ate what she could find growing on branches or in the ground of the great jungle. Eventually Gine was taken in by a band of female saiyans, and raised amongst them in their small village. She honed her skills in that time, working together with those women to hunt and to forage, and raise their offspring.

Yet, she was never fully accepted by them. She was too soft in their eyes, and fighting was never something Gine had a knack for, making her the stigma of ridicule amongst her fellow females when she turned down one sparring partner after the other.

" _What do you mean you don't want to train anymore? How will you court your mate if you don't know how to properly fight? It's tradition!"_

" _Every saiyan loves fighting. Something must be wrong with you, Gine. Are you sick?"_

Gine was ousted in the end, for she did not see things the way they did, and failed to bear any young. It was not from her inability to do so, but from dislike of tradition for what was accepted as the saiyan way. Yes, Gine wanted to be a mother, but not by what was expected of her. She didn't want motherhood to be forced upon her.

So she remained pure—or a pure one or pureling as they called it, for until…well, she didn't know. Male saiyans never interacted with females outside of the lunar phase to, making Gine's hopes of finding one on her own terms, _difficult_. And it wasn't about courting…she craved something more than being a mother and the physicals acts her fellow females grew excited for every lunar phase. She longed to find someone…for any saiyan out there who thought and felt the same as her, if even close to understanding it.

Maybe she didn't have to look far.

A geyser erupted far to Gine's left, firing up hot scolding water thousands of feet up into the sky. Steam was emitted from the toxic hot springs, the rocky terrain vast with scattering dead patches of grass and little plant life. Skeletons of animals were a common sight here, many to have wandered out and gotten killed by falling into the pools, and stepping on the weak area of ground where boiling hot water resided beneath.

Gine treaded quickly and with care, the soles of her feet uncomfortably hot against the soil she was been on for too long. If anything else, she needed to get back into the cover of the jungle on the other side for she disliked being out in the open like this.

The air was heavy today, the tropic weather making the humidity a challenge to overcome in this volcanic area of terrain. Her skin was sticky from sweat, caked in the layers of feces from a diplodocus now dried and cracking in the sun. Gine felt disgusting and smelled awful, but it was the best means to mask her scent. She only ever had to resort to animal feces closer to the full moon when the saiyans senses were at their most heightened, and females like herself were in full heat, but after what transpired in the gully, she couldn't take that chance. If Gine was to track that saiyan down, then she needed to get the drop on him and not the other way around.

Another geyser began to steam and bubble up, blasting up water higher than the last. A slight spray was to catch her in the wind and she hissed, running to get clear of it pronto to avoid herself nursing burns after all this.

Why was she even out here? It was a risky game she was playing, and Gine knew that it could go oh so wrong if she wasn't careful. Several times she even considered turning around and going back the way she came, but resisted, for something in Gine pushed her onwards. She couldn't explain it, this gut feeling of hers that wouldn't go away, these nagging thoughts that kept looping the events of those slain males stalking her, and the behavior of that saiyan with his blood-dyed bandana to have killed them with his own hands.

" _I don't care what happens to a cowardly female like you. I did what I came here to do, end of."_

In truth she had never properly dealt with the males of her species, other than when trying to avoid them during previous lunar phases; there were a few bits of banter here and there, but like her encounter a few days before, nothing substantial. Talking was not a thing male and female saiyans engaged in much of, and was taboo to even be in one another's presence outside of mating.

What Gine was attempting seemed to be the impossible, and couldn't help feeling scared…but she needed answers for what had been bothering her ever since she was indirectly saved by that saiyan, Bardock.

If experience had taught Gine one thing, it was that saiyan males were not choosy like her fellow females; they often mated with multiple females during the course of a single lunar phase; so long as they were in heat, most often that didn't matter. But for purelings like herself it was whole other story. To claim a female untouched, most males were willing for kill each other for such things, and they had done so in the past, trying to claim her, and failing when she gave them the slip. The red moon, it just…drove many saiyans berserk, some more than others.

So, why did this Bardock leave her alone? Whether or not Gine was viewed a coward in his eyes, it shouldn't have mattered. They were all in the midst of the lunar phase with the full moon coming, and Bardock did not do what was expected to of their kind, and it made Gine wonder…

The grass and moss were soft, a great relief upon entering depths of that jungle once more, where she stopped to quench her thirst from a river before continuing on with her long trek. Up the steep incline of a hill, there was a trail cut through the lush undergrowth, well treaded with the tracks of the saiyan she had been sniffing out. He was close.

A resplendent quetzal bird flew high overhead with a chortling call of alarm, losing one of its rich green features which spun and fluttered down around Gine as she slowed her pace. She treaded more carefully, being light on her feet and mindful to be quiet…mostly. By the grumble to bellow out from her stomach, she gave a silent sigh, wishing she had eaten more than a few dozen handfuls of atemoya fruit. Her appetite always got more ravenous this time of year.

Nearing the top of the hill, she crouched within in the long grass, picking up the sounds of the male she'd been seeking out more distinctly from here. Gine could tell he was alone, for she smelt no other saiyans around these parts. Odd, she thought.

Lowering to her hands and knees, her breathing controlled, Gine peered through the long grass towards the clearing below, and soon spotted that saiyan in question with his iconic blood-dyed bandana.

He was up in a tree, hanging by his hands on a branch doing what appeared to be exercises. With his upper body strength alone, he lifted up until he touched the branch chest level, and then lowered his body it back down to repeat the process over. Pull-ups… no, chin-ups, that's what they called it at her village; only a few of the strong females could do it. This Bardock went through reps, with little to no strain.

Gine watched the well-built muscles in his back and shoulders flex and retract under the skin with every rep, his breathing controlled and body perfectly straight. He'd worked up quite a sweat, which explaining why it was so much easier to track him…

With one final rep, Bardock let go of the branch, dropping to a crouch before he straightened upright. One hand going to his neck to bend it and release a few cracks, the saiyan male gave a few good rolls of his shoulders, before he strolled a few steps off to the side and shook out his legs. Bardock began throwing various styles of punches and kicks in fast succession, quicker than Gine's eyes could keep up. All the while he was constantly moving around on the balls of his feet, side-stepping, blocking punches and countering as if he were fighting an invisible enemy.

It was almost hypnotic watching the way he moved. Most saiyans just used brute strength to win a fight and focused solely on building that power in their bodies up, but Bardock had technique, and did not rely on strength alone. She was right in her hunches about him; there was something different about this one.

Gine leaned closer on her hands and knees; her tail flicking slowly back and forth while she studied that rogue saiyan's fighting style. Every detail from his footwork to the way he moved were so well executed, he must've performed them a thousands times over, and spurred Gine's interest in the male. The breeze tickled the back of her neck, sending the dirty clumps of her hair forward in front of her dark eyes as her fingers twitched, and every muscle in her body ached to moved, itching to mimic the saiyan's actions. It awakened something in her, a drive for combat Gine never thought she had.

Rushing ahead of him, Bardock hurtled his arm forward with a yell. He fist connected with the thick truck of a tree with a hard thump, and large jagged cracks split open the bark, the impact shaking its branches. Birds were sent flying from the treetops, several leafs falling around the saiyan as he stood motionless.

Slowly Bardock lowered his extended arm, and stepped back.

"What are you doing here, woman?"

Gine ducked down low when he turned towards her, though the act itself was meaningless now. So much for staying hidden…

Lifting her head up, she almost froze upon seeing the saiyan male staring directly up at her. She licked her lips nervously, trying to speak, but her head was so jumbled up by being caught she couldn't form an answer. In truth, Gine couldn't give him one.

"Tsk", Bardock uttered, growing inpatient by her lack of response. He marched forwards, those brisk strides shaping high leaps when hopping up the rocky slope with unimaginable speed.

He landed directly in front of her, the scowl on his face filled with annoyance.

" _Well?_ Answer or scram!"

Gine shuffled back hastily on her rear end, feeling genuine fear for how intimidating the male could be. Now more than ever did this feel like a stupid idea, but it struck her again as it had that day, how she was met with such hostility. This saiyan harbored no interest in claiming her, and did not smell any arousal of the kind. Gine was not in _that_ kind of danger.

Cautiously she rose to her feet, flexing her fingers against her sweaty palms, gathering the courage within herself to ask a question in return.

"How did you learn to fight like that?"

Bardock turned his nose up at her. "That's none of your business. Now leave."

"I, um…"

When Gine failed to heed his word, it only fed the flames of his temper, and Bardock suddenly moved closer, the anger rising in his voice.

"What are you deaf? Get outta here or I'll drag you off by your tail!"

Flinching Gine quickly stepped back to keep the distance between them both, almost complying with his demand, _almost_. This was not a saiyan she could stay in the company of, long enough to gain any kind of knowledge from him. He was too aloft, and Gine was only a female.

She racked her brain for anything, something to keep him from immediately dismissing her. The twitch in her fingers came back at merely thinking of the training she'd obverse before, and way the male fought so different to other saiyans that filled her with the desire to be strong like him. Immediately it spurred within her, an idea.

"T—Teach me!"

"Hm?" Bardock's brows crossed in confusion, blinking at her as if she had spoken utter nonsense.

"I want to fight, l-like you do," Gine elaborated, standing with her shoulders back and neck straight to make her seem that bit taller to the male. "Teach me!"

Bardock was silent, his mouth slightly agape in a total loss for words…before he let out hearty chuckle. "Waste my time on a weakling like you? Don't make me laugh. You look barely strong enough to bear any young, little less spar with me."

Angered by the insult, Gine's hands clenched and she reacted without thinking. She swung her fist at Bardock, and instinctively he caught it, his hand not even budging from the force of her knuckles connecting with his palm.

He smirked down at her. "See? Can't even throw a decent punch right." Bardock shoved her arm back, forcing Gine back a few steps. "Now why don't you take a hike before you hurt yourself?"

" _Take a hike you broken filth!"_

 _Many pairs of hands are on her back, there to shove Gine down the steep embankment the moment they drag her to the edge. Rolling and tumbling over rocks and lush green plant life to break under her weight, her injured body is bruised and beaten further, knocking the sense out of her when her head is struck several times in the fall._

 _When consciousness returns to Gine, she is lying in amongst the dead leaves and grass, her head heavy and gaze fixated on her own blooded hand to rest by her head._

 _She flexed the red smudged fingers slowly in absentmindedness, her eyes began to sting with fresh tears by the female voices of the villagers to shouted down at her laughing._

" _Don't ever show your face around here again or we'll skin you alive!"_

No.

NO!

Preparing herself, Gine came at Bardock again, trying land another punch on him. Her wrist was snatched, the saiyan male diverting his body to the side while she was still moving forward by her own momentum. With a firm push between her shoulder blades, Gine went face first into the grass.

She heard him scoff from behind her. "Listen girly, I'll say this loud and clear for you, I ain't got time to be dealing with your petty attempts at combat." Gine sat up, scowling when Bardock waved her off like nothing. "Go train with one of your female clans, or roll in some more shit if stinking up the jungle's more your style"

"You're one to talk. I smelt you from a mile away!" Gine retorted, jumping to her feet. "And I'm not leaving. Not until you teach me how to fight!"

She ran at the saiyan male, her kick blocked as she moved in to go for his face. Both her hands ended up caught with his, their fingers interlocked with the other in that power struggle Gine could not even hope to measure up to. Bardock was strong as males came, maybe even far stronger than that, but she didn't give in. She dug her toes into the dirt, giving it her all to push him back

Bardock simply stood there, unmoving and unhindered by her efforts, like a mountain that couldn't be budged out of place.

"I said 'no.' Don't make me say it again," he warned, the entertainment to her efforts wearing thin on him. He was beginning to move her hands back, her arms contracted closer to her in an act of dominance. Her fingers felt as though they were being crushed against his. "Now learn your place, woman, and leave."

Feet sliding back against the grass, Gine only pushed harder with the use of her legs. She clenched her jaw as her head bowed, searing with frustration and the belittling.

"Gi…ne," she strained out through her teeth. "My name is…GINE!"

Snapping her head up to glare at Bardock, she spat in his face. The small ball of saliva landed in his eye, and he clenched it shut, head twitching to the side when he loosened his grip. The combed efforts of being stunned and dropping his guard for a brief second were all Gine needed to push forward, and drive her leg up into the saiyan's groin.

With a grunt he stepped away, towards the edge of that steep rocky slope, where part of the ground suddenly gave way. Bardock fell backwards, and brought her along for the ride, the world sent spinning as the two saiyans went tumbling down the hill, splitting off from each other somewhere along the way.

Gine rolled to an abrupt stop in the grass, dizzy and disorientated with the sun blinding her from beyond those high treetops. It took her a little to realize that she had fallen all the way into the clearing below, sustaining only a few bumps and scratches from her fall. She shouldn't have expected any less during the lunar phase; her body always did get more robust during this period the closer it drew to the full red moon…but never enough to cheat death.

A shadow suddenly passed in front of Gine, blocking out the sun. Her eyes widened upon seeing Bardock was standing over her, staring down at Gine on the ground in one sour looking mood.

He prodded her with his foot, and Gine took the hint and propped herself up on her elbow, quickly sitting upright very tensely. Bardock didn't attack her, despite Gine expecting retaliation from him. He only studied her, while he rubbed his mouth

"You're persistent, I'll give you that." He said slowly, dropping an arm back to his side. "Alright, let's say I play along this little game of yours; what do I get out of this arrangement?"

The hairs stood up on the back of Gine's neck, her stomach twisting over those words that made her fear the worst. No, she wasn't willing to give him _her,_ if that's what such bargaining would entail. Then if not that, what could she…

Thinking quickly, Gine reached around to open the bag tied around her waist, and she retrieved from it a linen pouch ted up with string.

"These," she answered holding it out. "They're all yours."

For a few seconds Bardock was unresponsive to the offered item outstretched to him, until finally with a grumble he took it in one swift swipe. Shaking the small bag of its questionable content, he soon opened up, and there to fall out onto the palm of the saiyan's hand was a single green bean—one of seven contained in that bag.

The male's reaction wasn't good, looking unimpressed by it, insulted even.

"They're senzus!" Gine explained quickly. "It's—they're a rare type of plant that grows up on the mountains far west of here, I had to—"

"I don't care where you got them from," Bardock interrupted, his tone raised. "What use are some worthless beans to me?"

"They have healing qualities!" She answered speedily. Her heart skipping in fright, Gine held herself together. "They work on anything, injuries, sickness, poison, and they grow fast. If you prepare them correctly, you can apply it to wounds or—hey!"

Bardock shocked her by popping the bean in his mouth and began chewing, the hard shell cracking loudly with every single munch.

"Don't eat them all! There's only a few left!" Gine warned. "Please."

Ignoring her and just not caring, he swallowed the bean down, his skepticism of the claim evident the longer he stood there in silence.

"I don't feel no different." He bluntly said after a while.

"Of course not! You're healthy, and it takes time for them to work!" Gine said annoyed, holding her tongue when his eyes bored into her, and her safety was put in doubt once more. But could he be blamed for not believing her? It was only by accident Gine discovered the potential of the senzu plant. If not for it, there was many a time Gine may have died.

Not even bothering to retie the bag back up, it was tossed down on the ground. With a single hand the wild-haired saiyan lifted Gine up by the scruff of her shirt, and set her on her feet as if she weighed nothing. She tensed upon Bardock grabbing her forearm, raising it up to pinch and prod at Gine's bicep. The male's mouth set in a hard line, he let go, walking around her slowly while inspecting her from top to bottom.

Gine flinched, her cheeks reddening when his fingers brushed up and along her tail, before swatting it away. As Bardock came around to her side, a hand rested upon her shoulder, and she looked up at him expectantly for the saiyan male to say something—

She gasped, the air knocked out of her as she was suddenly punched right in the gut. The pain was immeasurable, nearly having her dub over and blacking out.

"Uua….whu…"

In the midst of her shock and confusion, Bardock hooked her chin and forced it upwards; tilting her head one side to the other while he scrutinized her with that piercing gaze of his. She felt like a slab of meat.

Gine clenched her jaw and persevered, clinging to conscious to stare him down in return. And it was in that moment, the corners of his mouth lifted in a small smile.

"You're a scrawny female, but you have fire." He retracted the fist from her gut and released her chin, speaking somewhat satisfied. "Fine; I'll teach you what your feeble mind can grasp while I have the time, but don't expect any special treatment."

Falling to her knees, Gine finally inhaled, relieved to do so. Through the pain, a mixture of emotions stirred within her chest like butterflies. She had done enough to keep his interest, but for how long? Maybe she was all wrong, and Bardock wasn't much different than the other saiyans, but Gine wouldn't know if she didn't stick around—so long as it was safe to. If it were long enough to learn something about this bizarre male, while molding her into a more competent fighter to defend herself, then that would be a good enough takeaway. Her own weakness sickened enough, and after witnessing his strength and abilities, it made her crave her own.

' _ **I have to get stronger, I must.'**_

Just as she was beginning to recover from the gut punch, an arm looped around her midsection, hoisting her up. Coughing, Gine wriggled as she was thrown over the male's shoulder who briskly started walking off into the dense jungle.

"Wait, what are you doing!?"

Bardock was carrying her off somewhere, sending her mind racing with panic as she struggled more, her hands slipping on sweaty trapezius and deltoid muscles to pull herself free. Her legs kicked with no impact, doing nothing to faze him.

"Giving you your first lesson," Bardock said, and abruptly dropped her there after.

It was as if the ground opened up and swallowed her. Gine let out a piercing scream, echoing all around as she fell and fell, her stomach rising up into her throat the faster her body spun out of control. She threw her arms out, trying to grab onto something, _anything_ , but only clutched thin air.

Through the blur of rocks and sunlight flashing before her, a vast blueness was fast approaching in her sights, and she braced for impact.

With a tremendous splash she plunged deep underwater. Bubbles rose up from all around Gine in a mist of murky mud casting off from her flesh, obscuring her vision while she sank. Through her muffled hearing, there was movement, her sharpened eyesight soon tracking the small schools of silver fish when the mud cloud dispersed. Disorientated, she watched them dart away into the blue hue of the vast underwater cave before her, where sunlight danced and shadows hid a labyrinth of passages the child felt an itch to explore. Gine couldn't believe her eyes; it was an entirely different world to her own, leaving her in awe and longing to have gills of her own.

So beautiful...

A burst of bubbles escaped her mouth, and Gine kicked her legs rapidly to swim upwards. She broke the surface with an audible gasp, sucking in the cool air while feeling her skin flared up sore from where her body had previously crashed into the water. Walls of limestone surrounded her, higher than any she'd seen, with vines hanging and plant-life growing around the massive hole in the roof where the sun's rays shone down; Gine was surprised she had fallen all that way.

She had been thrown into a cenote—a natural sinkhole.

Gine vigorously kept her arms and legs moving to prevent herself from slipping under those crystal clear water that was refreshingly cool after being out in that muggy jungle.

"Live like a coward you'll die like one," Bardock's voice echoed all the way down to her. Still spluttering, Gine tipped her head back and gazed upward, squinting through the sunlight to see the saiyan male in question standing far above on the edge of the cenote where he'd chucked her in. "Wash that crap off you, and get back up here fast before I change my mind. I haven't got all day!"

And with that warning, he turned and left Gine to do just that.

Surveying her surroundings, it came to her attention there was a area the side which appeared to open out into another section of the cavern. Believing herself able to pull herself out from there, Gine began paddling over, reaching it in no time at all as her hands grasped the stone edge of the natural pool. It was there, she discovered the remains of a burnt out cookfire on the stone ground not far from her, ash still in amongst the chard remains of wood.

Leaning out of the water to peer into the shadows, Gine almost pushed herself backwards when spotting something big and furry lurking there. She breathed a great sigh of relief, relaxing upon realizing it was only animal skins stretched out on frames, with many more of skins and fur piled in one place for bedding.

There were other things residing there, baskets and pottery, to tools and spears for hunting. Gine could pick up Bardock's scent all over them, where it finally dawn on her.

This was his den.


End file.
